


On a Day Like Today

by ShaneVansen



Category: Primeval: New World
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, Friendship, post ep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-06-27
Packaged: 2017-12-16 07:39:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/859580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaneVansen/pseuds/ShaneVansen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The human race isn't high on his list of favourite things right now, and today's events didn't hit him nearly as hard as they did her.  (post-ep for 1x10 <i>The Great Escape</i>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	On a Day Like Today

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Primeval: New World because I promised a friend I would, but I didn't expect to like it. I'm not really into dinosaurs. ;)
> 
> But, well, I _did_ like it. And now there's fic.
> 
> Unbetaed. Any errors are my own.

Evan gives her the rest of the day off. Dylan goes home and grieves.

She cries for ten or fifteen minutes straight, all the while thinking that she must be over-reacting. She grew up on a farm, knows the circle of life and death, and putting a wounded animal down was part of her life long before she ever joined Predator Control or met Evan Cross and got caught up in his dinosaur hunting. It was a mercy, then and today, and, dammit, shouldn't she be _used_ to this by now?

This, though, what happened today, isn't part of the natural order of things. Leggy was experimented on, _tortured_ , through no fault of his own. If not for Leeds and whoever the hell is in charge of the experiments, the terror bird could have been living its life and doing whatever it is _Titanis walleri_ do, instead of living its last weeks in pain and fear. 

Put into context, maybe her grief isn't that much of an over-reaction after all.

So she cries, and offers apologies – to whom, exactly, Dylan isn't sure – and when she's done, she's wrung-out and exhausted in every way. It's a while before she can summon the energy to get up, and when she passes a mirror she finds a woman with a red, splotchy face and hollow eyes staring back at her.

This is, of course, the moment someone knocks on her door.

***

Evan knocks again, then resorts to calling through the door, afraid that she'll ignore him otherwise. "Dylan? It's me. Evan. Come on, I know you're home." He knows no such thing, of course – her SUV's here but she could have gone for a walk, or gotten a ride somewhere – but he's pretty sure that after today, she isn't in the mood to be around anyone else. The human race isn't high on his list of favourite things right now, and today's events didn't hit him nearly as hard as they did her.

There's a soft thump before the lock turns and the door opens. He takes in Dylan's red-rimmed eyes and beaten-down expression and knows instantly that he was right to follow his gut instinct to come here.

"Hey," he says, his attempt at a smile falling flat. He shuffles his feet a little, awkward in the face of her pain. "Can I come in for a minute?"

Dylan watches him for a moment before nodding. "Yeah." She steps back, pulling the door all the way open. "Come in."

He follows her inside and down a short hall to her living room. There's a comfortable-looking couch and a couple of chairs, but neither of them sits. Knowing that Dylan's likely not in the mood for small talk, Evan decides to get straight to the point. "Are you coming back to work?"

She glances away, not pretending to misunderstand, and his stomach drops. It wasn't that long ago that she admitted she'd been having a hard time with this job, and today has to have her re-thinking whether this is what she wants to do with her life. Evan, though, is just starting to realize how much he needs her by his side; she has a way with the creatures they come across that makes him think that maybe what they're doing to track down the dinosaurs might make a difference, after all.

"Look," he starts. "I know today was bad. Hellish. No civilians were killed, which is better than usual when these things make it through an anomaly, but what the military did to Leggy, what they're probably doing to other dinosaurs...." His hand flutters through the space between them, aimless, a helpless gesture. "There's too much we don't know. Who's in charge of the experiments, if they've managed to capture any more dinosaurs, what they might be doing to them – there's no way of knowing." Not yet, anyway. If he has any say in the matter, that's about to change.

In spite of the weight of the situation, Dylan's starting to look almost amused. "Are you trying to talk me into staying or quitting?"

He chuckles a little, a strained sound, but quickly turns serious again. "I get the science behind it all. I can track the anomalies, examine them, use the raw data to get a better understanding of what makes them tick. But you, Dylan, you get _them_. The dinosaurs. You can identify them on sight. You know their habits. You can track them. You understand their behaviour and their motivation and you empathize with them. And at the end of the day, you probably save more lives than I do." He ducks his head a little, meeting her gaze to make sure she's listening. "I want – I _need_ – you on my team."

She's shaking her head. "Evan...." She moves to the couch, dropping her head into her hands for a moment, and he sits down beside her, sideways so he's facing her. After a moment she sits up and twists in his direction. "I thought I knew what I was getting in to with this job. What happened today? I didn't sign on for that."

"I know." And he does, because this isn't what he signed on for either. None of them did.

They're both quiet, watching each other, and he can't tell what she's thinking. Then Dylan closes her eyes and mutters, "Dammit, Cross."

Evan presses his lips together, trying not to smile. "Should I take that to mean I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

She opens her eyes to glare at him. "You better have a plan to figure out what that key card Leeds left us is for, because one way or another, we're gonna take those bastards _down_."

He doesn't even bother trying to hide his grin now. "Oh, _hell_ yes."

She stands, and he follows suit. "In that case, I'll see you bright and early."

"Thanks, Dylan." He heads for the door but hesitates after just a few steps. Before he can second-guess himself, he turns back around and reaches for her hand. "I'm glad you're staying," he tells her, reading a combination of surprise and pleasure in her expression, and squeezes her fingers. Then, embarrassed, he turns and hurries for the door without looking back.

Today was awful. Tomorrow, they'll do what they can to make it right. Evan's just glad she'll be there to help them with that battle.

_\--end--_


End file.
